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July 29, 2008

Comments

toujoursdan

I think/hope it is most symbolic than anything. If he can call attention to the political slant often found in Bible translations that is a good thing.

John Petty

You might check the link on the background of arsenokoites. It's interesting. You'll note the context driven interpretations through the years, and also the considerable body of conflicting opinion about the meaning of the word.

toujoursdan

It's a good link. I have had a few debates on Beliefnet about what the word meant. I seem to recall that Martin Luther's NT translation of it was "child molester".

Corinth seems to be notorious for its temple prostitution. The [Catholic] New American Bible's footnotes say:

"The Greek word translated as boy prostitutes may refer to catamites, i.e., boys or young men who were kept for purposes of prostitution, a practice not uncommon in the Greco-Roman world. In Greek mythology this was the function of Ganymede, the "cupbearer of the gods," whose Latin name was Catamitus. The term translated Sodomites refers to adult males who indulged in homosexual practices with such boys. See similar condemnations of such practices in Romans 1:26-27; 1 Tim 1:10."

From: http://tinyurl.com/66279s

What is rarely discussed is the problem with "sin lists" in Christian theology anyway. Paul was probably trying to make a rhetorical point rather than a literal one. The notion that doing something or not doing something affects salvation goes clashes with the doctrine of grace.

John Petty

Yeah, the sin lists are kind of dopey. What's worse, nobody ever pays any attention to the items on the list, except for the sexual ones.

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